1 The Horse and His Trainer

Sylvia Blaze.

西尔维娅。

Chapter 1 The Horse and His Trainer The story had gripped the nation. In late September 1890, all anyone was talking about was the disappearance of the great racehorse Silver Blaze and the tragic murder of his trainer. "We shall have to go, Watson," my friend Sherlock Holmes said to me as we sat down to breakfast one morning. "Go? Where to?" "To Dartmoor, to see if we can solve this Silver Blaze business." I shouldn't have been surprised. As England's greatest detective, it was only natural that Holmes should wish to take on this case.

第一章马和他的驯兽师这个故事轰动了全国。 1890年9月下旬，所有人都在谈论伟大的赛马“银光”的失踪和他的驯马师的悲惨谋杀。 “我们得走了，华生，”一天早晨我们坐下来吃早饭时，我的朋友歇洛克·福尔摩斯对我说。 “走?去哪儿?”“去达特穆尔，看看我们能不能解决银光的案子。” 我不应该感到惊讶。 作为英国最伟大的侦探，福尔摩斯希望接手这个案子是很自然的。

And so it was that an hour or so later, Holmes and I found ourselves in a compartment of a first- class carriage flying toward Exeter. Holmes spent the first half of the journey with his sharp, eager face buried in newspaper reports of the crime. Finally, he shoved these under his seat and turned to me. "It seems," he said, "that Silver Blaze was the expected winner at the Wessex Cup horse race next Tuesday. He is the nation's top racehorse, and the public had bet enormous sums of money on him. That means that rival stables would have been glad if he didn't compete.

就这样，大约一个小时以后，福尔摩斯和我坐在一节开往埃克塞特的头等车厢里。 福尔摩斯在旅途的前半段时间里，一直把他那张犀利而急切的脸埋在有关犯罪的报纸报道中。 最后，他把这些东西塞到座位下面，转向我。 “看来，”他说，“银光是下星期二威塞克斯杯赛马的预期赢家。 他是全国最顶级的赛马，公众在他身上下了巨额的赌注。 这意味着如果他不参加比赛，竞争对手会很高兴的。

"Of course, the owner of Silver Blaze, Colonel Ross, knew this, and he made sure the horse was well guarded at his stables at King's Pyland. The people in charge there were the trainer, John Straker, and three stableboys. Straker had worked for the colonel for thirteen years—five as a jockey and seven as a trainer—and had always shown himself to be honest and dedicated. The stableboys are also, apparently, of good character. One of the lads sat up each night in the stables while the other two slept in the loft. Straker lived in a small villa about two hundred yards from the stables. He had a wife, no children, and one maidservant.

“当然，‘银光’的主人罗斯上校知道这一点，他把这匹马关在国王派兰的马厩里，看守得很好。 那里的管事人是驯马师约翰·斯特雷克和三个马夫。 斯特拉克为上校工作了十三年——五年做骑师，七年做训练师——他一向表现得诚实和敬业。 马夫们显然也很有品格。 其中一个小伙子每天晚上在马厩里熬夜，而另外两个睡在阁楼上。 斯特拉克住在离马厩大约两百码的一座小别墅里。 他有妻子，没有孩子，只有一个女仆。

"King's Pyland is in a remote part of north Dartmoor. The nearest town, Tavistock, lies two miles to the east, and two miles west is Mapleton Stables. Apart from that, they're surrounded by wild, empty moorland. "On Tuesday evening, when this happened, the horses had been exercised and watered as usual and the stables were locked at nine o'clock. Two of the lads walked up to Straker's house where they had supper in the kitchen, while the third, Ned Hunter, remained on guard. "A few minutes after nine, the maid, Edith Baxter, walked over to the stables with Ned's supper, a dish of curried mutton. She took no water as there was a water tap in the stables and

“国王庄园在达特穆尔北部的一个偏远地区。 最近的城镇塔维斯托克在东面两英里处，西面两英里处是梅普尔顿马厩。 除此之外，他们周围都是空旷的荒野。 “星期二晚上，当这件事发生的时候，马像往常一样被训练和浇水，马厩在九点钟被锁上了。 其中两个小伙子走到斯特雷克家，在厨房里吃晚饭，而第三个小伙子内德·亨特则继续站岗。 9点刚过几分钟，女仆伊迪丝·巴克斯特端着奈德的晚餐——一盘咖喱羊肉，走向马厩。 她没有喝水，因为马厩里有一个水龙头

the rule was that the lad on duty should drink from that. The maid carried a lantern with her as the path ran through the open moor, which was very dark. "When she was some thirty yards from the stables, Baxter saw a man appear out of the gloom. He was dressed like a gentleman in a tweed suit and a red silk cravat. He carried a heavy walking stick with a knob for a handle. "'Can you tell me where I am?' he asked. 'I'd almost decided to sleep on the moor when I saw the light of your lantern.' "'You're close to King's Pyland stables,' she replied.

按照规定，值班的小伙子要用那个杯子喝水。 那条小路穿过开阔的沼地时，女仆提着一盏灯，那里很黑。 当她离马厩大约三十码时，巴克斯特看到一个男人从黑暗中出现。 他穿着一套花呢西装，系着一条红色丝绸领带，打扮得像个绅士。 他拿着一根有把手的沉重的手杖。 “你能告诉我我在哪儿吗？”他问。 “我几乎要决定在沼地上睡觉了，这时我看到了你提灯的光亮。“你离派兰国王的马厩很近，”她回答。